Elastic leather clothing

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to leather clothing, comprising an outer layer made of leather, which is connected to an inner layer made of elastic material, wherein the leather is provided with folds over the majority of the surface area of the leather, wherein said folds are distributed approximately regularly over the surface area and connect the leather to the elastic material by means of a plurality of seams that are spaced from each other, and the elastic material is a textile woven fabric.

The invention relates to leather clothing, comprising an outer layer made of leather, which is connected to an inner layer made of elastic material.

Animal skins have been used for clothing people for many millennia. In the prior art, a multiplicity of methods are known for stripping the skins from animals, freeing them of fleece or fur and tanning them in various steps. If leather is the only material for the outer clothing, it must have a thickness of at least 1 mm to achieve sufficient tear resistance. The disadvantage is that the clothing is then relatively heavy and provides relatively low elasticity, for example at the knees or at the elbows.

To improve the elasticity of leather, German patent D 297 764 describes connecting leather to rubber filaments or rubber surfaces. A bonding of rubber material and leather is also mentioned here.

The disadvantage of the resulting composite material is that, due to the rubber layer and the adhesive it has a relatively high weight, and the material only conforms to the body shapes with a relatively high resistance, that is to say that the wearer's comfort is reduced.

A further restriction is that the rubber surfaces are absolutely air impermeable, and therefore cause sweating. In practice, therefore, this material can only be used with additional layers that permit at least a restricted air supply to the body. The application of this material for very lightweight clothing—e.g. for applications in the summer—is therefore impossible in principle.

If the hitherto known “elastic leather” is made of material that is to some extent lightweight, it is subject to very unattractive wrinkles and bags. With a relatively thick layer of the rubber surfaces and relatively very thin leather, the material is comparatively inelastic, can only be bent with great effort and is absolutely air impermeable. Even as regards its external appearance, it corresponds predominantly to a rubber skin, as a result of which exposed bones or protruding body curves are visible from the outside in a way that is not always desirable.

Against this background, it is the object of the invention to develop a material for leather clothing that provides a uniform appearance over its surface and which is very elastic and conforms to body shapes such as kneecaps or elbows with relatively low resistance, and which can also be used as a very thin material for lightweight summer clothing.

As a solution, the invention teaches that the leather is provided with folds over the predominant part of its surface, which are distributed regularly over the surface and are spaced by a multiplicity of seams, bond the leather to the elastic material, and that the elastic material is a textile fabric.

The invention is thus distinguished from the prior art by the simultaneous use of the three characteristics “folds” and “seams that are spaced from one another” and “elastic fabric.”

These three features—which are each known per se—achieve, thanks to their hitherto unknown and inventive combination, new and hitherto unknown properties of the composite material according to the invention.

A first essential feature of the invention is the folds that are homogeneously distributed over the leather surface. In general, they are so small that they are raised no more than three to four millimetres over the surface but are large enough to be able to fold draw like a concertina under extreme tensile loading, that is to say form an additional safety margin for expansion of the material. As a result, at highly loaded points—such as knees or elbows—material is kept in reserve, which under loading permits the material to expand relatively comfortably without irreversibly changing. The formation of unattractive “bags” is thus at least greatly restricted, usually even eliminated.

A multiplicity of relatively small folds, principally oriented in the same direction, are also known as “crushed leather.” They are produced, for example, by lateral compression of the material. One possible way of producing them is to insert the leather between two metal surface that are oriented parallel to one another, between which the distance is as great as the maximum desired curvature of the folds with respect to the adjacent planar portions of the leather. The leather is pressed into this pocket from one lateral edge, that is to say compressed. The resulting folds are in particular very stable when the leather is thoroughly moistened and heated during the crushing. Temperatures up to 140° C. are appropriate.

The second characteristic feature of the invention is the bonding of the elastic material to the leather by means of seams. Unlike many other methods of bonding elastic material and leather, a seam has a multiplicity of advantages. The resulting connection is permanent and durable and, if the quality of the connecting thread is appropriate, also resists dry cleaning and moisture and the butyric acid of human sweat. The problem of the bond being loosened after a relatively short time due to chemical reactions from the environment or continuously reversing movements is thus eliminated.

In contrast to spot bonds—such as rivets—the bond with a seam is distributed over a line, so that the loading of the material, due to the multiplicity of openings for threading through the threads, only exerts very much lower loading on the edge of the leather. In addition, due to the uniform distribution of the forces, no star-shaped folds are to be complained about.

If the lenticular seams cross one another, angular sections are formed, within which the loading of the material is uniformly distributed, and within which the optical appearance of the material is therefore homogeneously distributed over the surface, even under load. An additional advantage is that, due to the seams and their appearance as a line on the leather surface, the designer of the clothing is provided with a further design parameter.

A further advantage of the arrangement, which is not to be underestimated, is the elastic filaments of the textile elastic material. Due to their large number, the loading is uniformly distributed onto the seams and onto the leather surface. As a result, the seams are uniformly loaded, so that the risk of tearing of the seam is reduced.

Also as regards the effect of the clothing on the human skin, the uniform force distribution due to the elastic material is an advantage. Spot overloads, as for example in the case of rubber filaments, are avoided.

A further advantage is the air permeability of the fabric. Since the textile fabric is only firmly connected to the leather at the seams, but in the regions lying therebetween can be removed from the leather by a small amount, air layers collected between the elastic material, in the case of movements by the wearer, and—for example, in the case of a relatively high ambient temperature—assist the removal of hot and moist air.

Due to the connection of these three advantageous features, the leather-composite material according to the invention can also be used for very lightweight outer clothing lying close on the body, such as, for example, summer suits for ladies. For example, in the case of relatively closely tailored skirts, the elastic material acts as a safety margin, which avoids an exceeding of the maximum permissible stretching limit of the leather material. As a result, the risk of tearing in the skirt during standing up, sitting down or in the event of large steps is reduced. It is also advantage that, for example in the case of a suit jacket, the formation of a disadvantageous bag at the elbows is reduced or eliminated.

The function of the elastic material as tear prevention therefore permits leather of only 0.25 to 0.5 mm thickness to be used.

In an alternative embodiment, the composite material according to the invention, however, can also be supplemented by a third layer, which can be inserted, bonded in, sewn in, or otherwise fastened, as an “inlay” between the elastic material and leather. This inlay may be, for example, an additional insulation layer for winter clothing. Another function is the stiffening of particular regions of clothing, such as the end region of sleeves or the reverse of a suit jacket.

The inlay may, however, also perform many other functions. It is thus conceivable to insert a spacer scrim, which permits ventilation. If a cooling means or heating means is disposed in the clothing article, or in the vicinity thereof, the clothing can be cooled or heated with an air stream by the spacer scrim. Also conceivable are inlays that are provided with nubs or other spacers, and thereby have a similar effect to a spacer scrim.

Since a clothing article in most cases consists of a plurality of blanks, which are connected to one another via a seam, it is appropriate to also use this seam for connecting the leather pieces to the blanks of the elastic material. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, two adjacent leather portions are sewn to two portions of elastic material.

To this end, the end regions of the two adjacent leather portions can overlap in just the same way as the end regions of the two adjacent blanks of the elastic material. However, because a bead thereby occurs in the material, which has twice the thickness of the adjacent composite material, the invention proposes, as an alternative embodiment, that the leather portions in the region of the seams only contact one another at their cut edges. Or—differently formulated—the leather portions are “butt jointed” together. Since the openings in the edge region of the leather portions, through which the threads of the seam run, must have a particular minimum distance from the cut edge of the leather portion so that the opening does not tear open, the result is that, between the two openings on two adjacent leather portions, the thread run along the surface of the leather for a clearly visible length.

For such a seam, various methods of sewing are conceivable. It is interesting to use a so-called “glover's stitch,” in which the threads are passed in a spiral through the opening in all four portions to be sewed to one another. On the surface of the leather, with such a stitch, a multiplicity of short sections of the thread can be seen, which run parallel to one another and at an obtuse angle to the cut edge of the portions.

The invention prefers that the thread consists, at least in the longitudinal direction, of an elastic material, so that, when the elastic limit of the elastic material is reached, it can serve as an additional safety margin. As a result, the elasticity of the thread should be so high that, under load, first the elastic material is expanded and only then the threads, which form the seams for joining the individual portions to one another.

Such a thread can consist, for example, of elastic polyester. In another alternative, it is built up of a plurality of individual threads that are each hardly elastic per se, which by means of knots or other loops effect an elasticity of the overall thread in its longitudinal direction.

As repeatedly mentioned above, a significant feature of the invention is that the leather is “crushed.” The invention prefers that all the folds in the surface of the leather run predominantly in approximately the same direction. Such a variant is shown in FIG. 1. This configuration occurs during compression of the leather from only a single cut edge. Such a leather that is crushed only in one direction has the advantage of having a particularly high elasticity only in one direction. In all other directions, the elasticity of the leather is as determined by the material itself.

It is naturally also conceivable that leather has folds that are oriented in a plurality of directions that are essentially different from one another. For example, it is interesting that the folds run predominantly only in one of two mutually crossing directions. In this case, the leather has the same elasticity in both directions, which is effected by the temporary “drawing apart” of these folds.

For those portions of a leather clothing that surround the torso or the legs or the arms in an annular manner, it is of advantage that the fold run in the longitudinal direction of the respective body part. By this means, the folds for a jacket can compensate for, for example, breathing or filling of pockets. For trouser legs, when bending the legs, the enlargement of the circumference in the region of the knee can be compensated. In the case of sleeves, the “bagginess” in the region of the elbow during bending of the arms can be compensated. Even if the leather clothing is not designed for a fixed fit, that is to say not for a smallest possible distance between the leather clothing and body surface, this possible expansion of the dimensions can nevertheless be perceived as very comfortable due to the drawing apart of the folds.

In a further embodiment, the elastic material can be provided on its side facing the body with a coating improving the slip. If the leather material is used, for example, for a suit jacket or for trousers, in which elongated regions such as the sleeves or the trouser legs, must be slid over the corresponding body parts, it is of advantage if they slide particularly well on the elastic material because the process of dressing and undressing, which are always perceived as difficult, is perceptibly facilitated.

Further details and features of the invention are explained below in greater detail with reference to an example. This is not intended to restrict the invention, but only to explain it. In schematic view:

FIG. 1: shows a greatly enlarged section of the seam region of leather clothing according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, a portion is graphically cut out of the seam region of leather clothing and greatly enlarged. It is shown in perspective view. At the cut edges, the outer layer of leather (1) can be seen as the upper layer. In the surface and at the cut edge, a plurality of folds (11) can be clearly recognised. These folds (11) are curved upwards, and—like the gable roof of a house—form an upwardly pointing edge. This edge is recognisable as a clearly showing-through line in the network of the leather (1), which is grained in this example. The fact that these folds only have a low elevation with respect to the overall surface of the leather (1) can be derived from the size of the seam (3) in the picture centre. In the great enlargement shown here, the thread (31), which forms the seam (3), with its sections projecting beyond the outside of the leather (1), is recognizable as a row of strongly curved, approximately ring-shaped elements. In the front region of FIG. 1, it can be clearly seen how the upwardly projecting portions of the thread (31) continue on the inside of the elastic material (2).

In FIG. 1, it can also be clearly seen that the thread (31) continues both through the upper layer off leather (1), specifically through the left-hand leather portion (12), and through the right-hand leather portion (12). The thread (31) then runs further through those sections of the elastic material (2) that are located below each leather portion (12).

The elastic material (2) is, in the cross-section, identified by a dotted line at its edge faces. In the region of the seam (3) it can be seen that the elastic material ends in a small bead. This bead serves to prevent the textile fibres, of which the elastic material (2) is made, from coming apart.

In FIG. 1, at the cut edge, it can be clearly seen that the surface of the leather (1), with its grains, has a larger surface than the layer of elastic material (2) that is disposed below it. If the elastic material (2) is stretched within its plane, it is clear from FIG. 1 that the leather layer that lies thereon is also stretched, and, with it, not only the leather layer in the picture centre of FIG. 1 but also that which is connected at seams parallel thereto—not shown here—is also stretched. By this means, the roof-like, upwardly domed folds are pulled apart, so that the leather is at first stretched without further stressing of its internal structure by the fact that the fold are “pulled smooth.”

FIG. 1 shows very impressively that, in the outwardly facing surface of the leather, the folds (11), do not ned to run over entire length in strict parallelism, but are only oriented approximately parallel and can also be of limited length.

LIST OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

1 Leather

11 Fold in the leather 1

12 Leather portion of leather 1

2 Elastic material fastened on the leather 1 with seam 3

3 Seam for bonding leather 1 and elastic material 2

31 Thread of the seam 3 

1. Clothing of leather, comprising: an outer layer of leather, which is connected to an inner side of elastic material, characterized in that the leather is provided with folds throughout over the predominant portion of its surface, which are distributed approximately regularly over the surface and by means of a plurality of seams, which are spaced from one another, connect the leather to the elastic material and the elastic material is a textile fabric.
 2. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that a third layer is inserted or bonded in or sewn in, or otherwise fastened, as “inlay” between the elastic material and leather.
 3. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the leather is composed of at least two leather portions, which are connected to one another with the same seams with which the elastic material is also connected to the leather.
 4. Leather clothing according to claim 3, characterized in that the leather portions are, in the regions of the seams, only in contact with one another at their cut edges.
 5. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the seam consists of a thread, which runs in a spiral form through the materials to be connected.
 6. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the thread consists of a material that is elastic at least in the longitudinal direction.
 7. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the thread is built up of elastic polyester or a plurality of individual threads that are hardly elastic and achieve elasticity in the longitudinal direction by means of knots or other loops.
 8. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the folds run predominantly in approximately the same direction.
 9. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the folds run predominantly in one of two mutually crossing directions.
 10. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that it surrounds body parts such as the torso or legs or arms in an annular manner and that the folds run in the longitudinal direction of the body part.
 11. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the elastic material is provided, on that side that faces the body, with a coating that improves its slip property.
 12. Leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that the leather has a thickness of approximately 0.25 mm to 0.5 mm.
 13. Method for producing a leather clothing according to claim 1, characterized in that in the first step, leather is provided with folds, for example by compression in the direction of the surface of the leather approximately transversely to the folds and in the second step, leather portions are cut from the leather and equally sized portions of the elastic material are cut and in the third step, the leather portions and the portions of the elastic material are laid congruously one on the other and the leather portions and the portions of the elastic material are in contact with one another at their end faces and in the fourth step, all portions are stitched together by means of a thread, which forms a seam.
 14. Method according to claim 12, characterized in that, in the first step, in addition to compression, the leather is additionally heated, for example to temperatures up to about 140° C. 